Afterstory
by PaigeLaforet
Summary: Roger is not happy with the way things have gone since they were 'rescued' from the island. More like stolen from paradise. However, it seems Jack will sort it out. RogerXJack, JackXRalph, RogerXOC, JackXOC.
1. Chapter 1

I looked at the Naval Officer standing there on the beach. Behind him was a boat and a couple of equally horrified adults. Ralph was at his feet, crying.

Adults. I thought I'd seen the last of them. But now they'd come and ruined all of my fun. Now Jack would be restrained from being Jack. Without Jack, I couldn't be Roger.

"What the hell is going on here?" asked the officer. Ralph cried harder. This was strange for me because for all Ralph's annoying capabilities he wasn't a cry baby. I delighted in the fact that I was partially responsible. Jack looked horrified. It was no wonder – he'd been caught in the act. If he could just keep his cool he could say we were simply playing. However, even now my hand itched to stab down on Ralph's now golden body.

The officer knelt down and helped Ralph to his feet before guiding him to the rescue boat which lay softly on the waves. I was filled with fond memories of that little quiet boy whom we had killed. Naturally, only Jack and I were really aware that we had killed him. But I knew all along, I knew as I repeatedly skewered his head with my stick.

It wasn't nearly as much fun as Piggy though. The way he squealed as the rock hit him with a sickening, albeit beautiful, thud. I remained furious on the inside though I looked as innocent as the others.

"Chief" I whispered in Jack's ear, "Say we were playing chase and Ralph got a bit frightened. Piggy fell of the cliff and the Simon kid drowned"  
Jack met my eyes and nodded accepting my proposal. He approached the rescuers alone as they loaded the littleuns onto the boat.

"Roger?" asked Maurice. I turned towards him and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"What are we to do now?" he asked, the boys looked at me expectantly.

I smiled at them. "We go back to our lives. I don't really care what you do with yours"  
They were right though. What the hell were we to do now? We were barely even people anymore and they were dragging us back to civilisation?

I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay with Jack. I liked Jack.

Jack let me kill.

Now the brat Ralph would get away and there was nothing to be done about it.

"I've told them" said Jack as he rejoined us.

"I don't want to go Jack" said Bill, "It's much more fun here"  
Jack nodded. "I know – but we're not allowed to stay are we?"

"This is all Ralph's fault!"

"We could kill them and stay" I suggested quietly. A flicker of excitement sparked in Jack's light blue eyes and he smirked.

"They've got guns" said Jack, "But if we leave now we'll never be able to come back"

I cussed under my breath and sighed.

"Do you reckon we could still sing C – sharp?" I asked randomly.

"Of course we can" said Jack, "I ruled the school, the choir and this island. If I say we can then we can"

"Choir doesn't seem as fun anymore does it?" asked Maurice. I shook my head.

"Any plan then Chief?" asked Bill. Jack raised his head superciliously which caused its usual awestruck murmur amongst the boys.

"We go back" said Jack quietly, "There's nothing to be done now"

The other boys hurried over to the boats, but Jack lingered.

"We're coming back. Aren't we?" I asked knowingly. I simply looked at him as his eyes gave way to his plan. He turned and walked towards the boat.

"Come Roger" he beckoned. So I followed.


	2. Chapter 2

e boat rocked to and fro to the rhythm of the choppy waves. I was sulking and it was no wonder why. The Naval Officer had wanted to know what had gone, so naturally he had seated Jack and I up front.

Along with the insufferable Ralph.

"So what you're saying" said the Officer gravely, "Is that had I not been there, they'd have killed you?"

Ralph nodded solemnly. I fought the urge to glare at him, the urge to beat him.

"It wasn't our fault" said Jack firmly, "He was a nuisance. He'd have dragged us all to a grave." "Why do you hate me Jack?" asked Ralph suddenly, pathetic tears still rolling down his bronzed cheeks.

Jack eyed him curiously. "Because you were always so bossy and moaned on and on and on. You were chosen leader just because you had a stupid useless shell"

"The conch was the Chief's mark" snapped Ralph

"Where's your precious conch now Ralph?" taunted Jack. Ralph made for him but was stopped by the Officer.

"I should have been Chief from the start" continued Jack, "I provided for the boys. Ralph didn't. All he cared about was his stupid fire and rescue. I did what I had to to survive, I protected the boys in the only way possible. What else was there to do?"

You had to admire Jack's way of wheedling out of dire situations. Expertly, he was turning the blame over to Ralph.

"So you killed Simon and Piggy?" demanded Ralph, "Like you were going to kill me?" "The beast-"

"There was no beast!" butted Ralph, "You're the only beast here Jack!"

Jack simply glared.

"And another thing!" Ralph rolled on, "It's not like it was dark and you couldn't tell Piggy was Piggy. It was broad daylight and Roger deliberately pushed the rock onto him. What was the good in that?"

"Piggy was useless anyhow!" snorted Jack, "He asked for it" "Enough!" commanded the Officer. The two ceased to squabble any longer and the Officer looked towards me.

"You're Roger?" he asked. I said nothing but looked him in the eyes as I nodded my head.

"Roger didn't do anything wrong" said Jack, "He was protecting our littleuns"

A smile played at my lips. Jack was defending me and that made me feel at ease. I knew perfectly well that Jack wouldn't come out of this looking bad. Back home he'd been the model citizen – Head Boy and Choir Chorister. They wouldn't think anything of Jack's actions on the island.

"Yes" I said, "Piggy was threatening them. He said he was going to beat them all and we couldn't let that happen"

Ralph turned on me, his eyes savage and furious.

"That's a lie!" he shouted, "Piggy never said anything like that! You killed him on purpose for no reason!"

Suddenly, Ralph lapsed into complete silence. He averted his gaze from me to stare into the sea, as though he wanted it to swallow him whole.

The officer sighed and eyed us wearily. "This is going to cause a lot of trouble you know. Especially when those children's' parents are waiting for us to bring them home"

"Piggy's auntie..." murmured Ralph wistfully

"I for one am glad to be rescued" said Jack, "It's been hard looking after those children you know"

"Well you're safe now" said the officer, "And you know, you'll have formed some strong friendships on that island – kind of like the ones we make in the Navy"

"My father is in the Navy" said Ralph pointlessly.

The officer stood up and moved to the back to attend to the littluns – leaving the three of us alone together.

"Well" said Jack, "I can't wait to tell my parents of our adventure"

"Adventure?" spat Ralph, "This is an adventure? You killed two people and turned everyone else batty" "You were already batty" snapped Jack, "And I did nothing wrong"

"You hate me for no reason" said Ralph

"No reason?" countered Jack, "You were always making up useless rules and telling everyone what to do. And for what reason? I should have been chief from the start" Ralph didn't reply. "You are a monster. You're going to hell Jack Merridew"

Jack looked like he was about to thump him but, under these new circumstances, thought better of it.

"What does it matter now?" I said bluntly, "Things will go back to normal and we'll grow up"

"We already grew up" said Ralph melancholically, "Well I did anyway. Besides, things will never go back to the way things were. Do you think that just because you'll be tucked up in your warm bed that the nightmares will go away?"

I looked hard into Ralph's tortured blue eyes. "What nightmares?"

"Exactly Roger" said Jack, "You're the only one who was all frightened. You're the one who was crying. The rest of us biguns were not afraid. We didn't have nightmares"

"That's a lie" murmured Ralph, "You all did"

"No" I said honestly, "I dreamed but I never got frightened of them" "You thought there was a beast" said Ralph

"So did you" said Jack defensively. The two boys suddenly looked at me, as though waiting for me to agree with them. But I said nothing. After all, even if I had believed the beast to be real, it didn't matter anymore. The ordeal was over, even if I hadn't wanted it to be.

"What's the point in all this talk" said Jack, changing the subject, "I've had enough of it" "Jack?" asked Maurice from behind us. Jack turned to face him.

"What?"

"Do you think... that when we get home... any of us will meet again?"

There was a silence. I knew that I would see the choir boys again, but what he really wanted to ask was 'Will we ever see Ralph again?'

Of course, I knew why he wanted to know this. Despite everything, the other boys, both the littluns and the biguns, liked Ralph very much. Admittedly, Ralph was a somewhat likeable person.

"Of course we will" snapped Jack, "No doubt we'll be evacuated again, and this time we'll all probably be together like before. Besides, we're all in the choir aren't we?"

I shook my head.

"Roger?" asked Jack, confusedly

"That won't happen now Jack" I said, "My voice has begun to break"

The boys all shared a look of understanding. Jack's face grew worried.

"You'll be transferred to the men's choir" said Jack, "And not the boys"

"Can you..."

Jack broke into song. Miraculously, he could still hit a c-sharp. It was awesome how, coming from the arguably worst of us, Jack could still sing in the same angelic voice he had before. I wondered if I was the only one who had lost his child's voice. However, judging from the expressions of a few of the other choir members, I wasn't the only one.

"I'd say you were a tenor now" said Jack pompously, "But I wouldn't worry Roger"

But I did worry. I worried that now, I would undergo a change. I wanted everything to be exactly the same as before.

"Jack?" I asked

"What?"

"How long were we gone?" "Almost two years" said the officer. Everyone's eyes widened.

"They'll have replaced me" said Jack with horror, "They'll have picked a new choir chorister... and elected a new Head Boy"

"How old are we now Jack?" asked Bill, frightened.

"Well, I'm... fourteen" said Jack, "I'm fourteen... I must be nearly fifteen now though"

"What is the date?" I asked

"25th December" said the officer, "Merry Christmas boys"

It was Christmas. On our hot island we'd never have known.

"It's my fourteenth birthday" mumbled Ralph

There was a silence. A dead silence. It was as though none of us knew how to react to a situation such as this. In an old life we may have laughed and sung but now? We had forgotten.

"Happy Birthday" said Jack quietly, much to everyone's surprise. The two looked at each other with haunted expressions that suggested that whatever state they were in, they would never fully get out of it.

"How old are we all?" asked Ralph suddenly, "Come on, when are your birthdays?"

"I'm fourteen" I said quietly

"Thirteen" said Maurice

"Thirteen" said Bill

"Twelve" said Samneric

Immediately, the boys began to exchange their supposed ages. Slowly, we were ascending back into a state almost as civilised as we had been in to begin with. Almost.

That's when I noticed. That Ralph was sat between Jack and I. I exchanged a look with Jack and he nodded. Without saying a word, I moved to sit close to him.

During the boat trip home Ralph curled up on the floor and fell into a dream riddled sleep. I predicted that he'd always have a disturbed sleep now. I turned to Jack.

"Two years" I said, "That's a long time. We'll be less clever than the rest of the boys in our year" Jack met my eyes with a fierce expression.

"Shut up Roger" he snapped, "We'll catch up in no time at all. I'm just..."

"Worried about what they're going to think about Piggy and Simon?"

"They can't blame us" said Jack, "Besides they have no proof of either of them"

"Or that mulberry boy" I murmured

"What?"

"It doesn't matter"

An image flashed into my mind. A little boy with a mulberry birth mark on his face, crying for me to help him dislodge his foot from the creepers he got them tangled in. But I hadn't helped him, I'd walked away.


End file.
